Justin Williams assisted on Anze Kopitar's winning goal in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.

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Current New Jersey Devils coach Peter DeBoer coached him in Plymouth (Mich.) in the Ontario Hockey League. He drafted him in the sixth round, and he recalls Williams didn't make the team the first year.

"We put him down on tier two team," DeBoer said. "He just kept hanging around. You could tell he was a good hockey player but was about 150 pounds. He had great heart."

Fourteen years later, you can still tell he's a good hockey player, but he still isn't the most visible star in his galaxy. Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown receive most of the hype, but Los Angeles players view Williams as equally crucial as the Kings, leading 1-0 in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final, play the Devils in Game 2 Saturday (8 p.m., ET, NBC).

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In Game 1, he made the basketball-style, no-look pass that set up Kopitar's game-winning goal. "When he is dancing with the puck, he is fun to watch," teammate Jarret Stoll said.

Williams has a showy game, but that's not really who he is most of the time. "He has a lot of skill, and he works hard," Stoll said. "He brings the grit element as well. He finishes his checks and blocks shots."

Stoll said the fact that Williams has already won a Stanley Cup with Carolina in 2006 is important in the room. "I know guys look up to him."

McSorley remembered: The last time the Kings were in the Stanley Cup Final in 1993, the series turned against the Kings on an illegal stick call against Marty McSorley. Montreal Canadiens coach Jacques Demers used that to get a 5-on-3 power play.

It didn't take long for the media to ask DeBoer if he remembered the last time he asked for an opponent's stick to be measured.

"I actually do remember it," he said, laughing. "(Los Angeles center) Mike Richards would remember it, he was my captain in Kitchener. We had Corey Perry, who plays in Anaheim. We had all been together with the World Junior team. I had found, probably a little unethically by coaching him, that his stick was illegal at Christmas. We played London in the playoffs. I had (Richards) call Corey for an illegal stick. We actually got it. Didn't score in the 5-on-3. I think London scored shorthanded and we lost the series. It backfired. It's a funny story."

Another funny aspect of the story is that Richards didn't remember. "I don't remember it, actually," Richards said, joking. "I've taken a lot of hits to the head."

What value is home ice to New Jersey? DeBoer doesn't like to match lines, mostly because it disrupts his team's style and flow.

"We're just not going to let that dictate how we play." DeBoer said. "So last change, it doesn't have some importance and some relevance, but the big thing (about being at home) is the crowd, the environment, sleeping in your own bed."

Another problem is that the Kings are 9-0 on the road. "I know L.A.'s record minimizes the (importance) …" DeBoer said. " But it's important to us. We've been a good home team. We've played well here. I know we're going to throw a good game out there Saturday night."

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